The Turn of the Screw at the Milton Keynes Theatre Review
The Turn of the Screw
Milton Keynes Theatre
21 November 2014
www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes
Reviewed by Jo Francklow
Never having seen an opera before I was very intrigued and excited about my visit to watch Benjamin Britten’s opera ‘The Turn of The Screw’, performed by the Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra.
The story in short is a gothic ghost story written by Henry James first published in 1898. It is a story of two young children (Miles and Flora) who became the responsibility of their uncle following their parent’s death. The uncle lives in London and has no interest in raising them himself so hires a governess to take full responsibility for their care.
The governess finds the children very well behaved and pleasant, so is rather shocked to learn that Miles’ school expelled him stating “he is an injury to his friends”. Miles never discussed the matter and the governess never broached the subject with him.
As time goes by, the governess notices the figures of a man and a woman appearing outside the house. She soon discovers the figures she sees are of the former governess and valet, who are both dead and she has become convinced the two children are secretly aware of the presence of the ghosts which seem to have some form of control over them. She then takes the task of shielding the children from the ghosts with the help of the housekeeper to free them from the ghost’s control.
I thought the performance by the Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra was excellent. I really couldn’t fault anyone, however, the star of the show in my eyes was the young boy who played Miles (Thomas Delgado-Little). He has the sweetest sounding voice and sang his lines so beautifully a perfect match to Flora (Louise Moseley). I found the first half of the performance better than the second as you were still trying to follow the build up to the main plot, the second half did seem to drag a little in places where you rather just wanted to know what happened at the end. The ending of which is still questionable in parts.
My general thoughts of the opera are that I did enjoy it. The performers were all very good, the musicians were excellent and the scene changes were all put together very swiftly and very well. Would I recommend it? Yes, however, I do feel it suits a certain taste. You must remember it is an opera, therefore all the lines are sung and although sang in English you do still need to read the subtitles to fully understand some of the words to follow what is happening. Has it convinced me to watch another opera? Yes, however, knowing some of the music from Puccini I think I would still prefer to listen to the music from Madame Butterfly!
As for the theatre itself, all the staff were friendly and helpful and the facilities were good. I was most pleased that my water for my cup of tea (pre-ordered for the interval) was waiting for me and still hot. As for getting to the theatre, I found the signs for the theatre district easy to follow from the A5 but once in the theatre district I found it difficult to actually find the theatre! I eventually found it having walked the maze of different restaurants and taken an alley by the ‘Slug & Lettuce’. Maybe some more signs could be placed to make it a little easier to find.
Rating: 3/5
For more information on Glyndebourne tours visit www.glyndebourne.com.
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK9 3NZ
